Ex-NFL star headlines Knights' fundraiser

It didn’t take Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Theismann long to recognize that Redding is a sports town.

The city doesn’t have a major college or even professional team, he said as the guest speaker of the 20th annual Shasta College Celebrity Dinner-Auction on Friday at Win-River Casino, but it was immediately obvious to him that he was in a community that rallies around the sports programs.

Theismann addressed former Shasta College quarterback Ricky Ray, now of the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts, in attendance and wasn’t hesitant to acknowledge the pride that people in Redding have in athletics.

“It really speaks volumes about a community when someone works somewhere else like Ricky Ray, and he comes back home to Redding,” Theismann said. “When someone wants to come home, then you know it’s something special.”

Theismann, who spent 12 years in the NFL and led the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XVII, headlined the event, whose focus was to raise money for Shasta College athletics.

The event featured a banquet, with Theismann’s keynote speech, and included auction items like autographed photos of San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick and San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey. Also up for auction were guided goose hunts and rounds of golf as well as Theismann-signed Redskins helmets and jerseys, and also a college jersey from his days at Notre Dame. Even a signed Megan Rapinoe photo and a signed Shasta College helmet by Ray were up for bidding to add local flavor.

But first, Theismann had to crack a joke about coming in second to Jim Plunkett, again. Plunkett edged Theismann for the Heisman Trophy in 1970, once again in Super Bowl XVIII and beat him to be the celebrity guest for the event by 20 years — Plunkett was the inaugural dinner-auction speaker.

“I can’t seem to beat him,” Theismann joked.

Theismann, also known for suffering a gruesome injury from being sacked by New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor on Monday Night Football, described the sound as two muzzle shots going off.

“I didn’t break my leg, Lawrence Taylor did,” Theismann said.

Theismann told stories from his playing days against the Dallas Cowboys and holding an NFL record for shortest net-yardage for a punt — 1 yard — and included his current broadcasting career and personal life experiences to show the audience that life and athletics go “hand in hand.”

“You cannot and will not be a true successor in life if you think you can do it by yourself,” Theismann said.

Shasta College has followed that theme during former athletic director Gary Houser’s run. Now, Mike Mari has had 34 days to be in charge of the Knights’ athletic department, starting it off with Friday night’s sold-out event.

“Shasta College has an infrastructure to be good at every sport we offer,” Mari said. “With the observations I’ve made is we need to catch up with a few of the programs we’re competing with and we’re able to do that with events like this.”

Theismann followed a standing ovation by pushing for higher prices on items up for auction. With that, he demonstrated his own message by helping the overall cause that brought him to Redding.

“You don’t get ahead in life or athletics by standing by,” Theismann said. “You have to make it happen.”

Connect with T.J. Holmes on Twitter @tjholmes_RS.

About T.J. Holmes

Sports reporter T.J. Holmes is a national award-winning journalist for the documentary he co-produced called “Enterprise’s Road to State.” He’s spent more than five years covering high school, college, professional and community sports in the North State, is active on social media sites Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and regularly produces content via blogs, stories, a prep notebook column, videos and more.